9.  The applicant, who is of Georgian origin, was born in 1958 in Georgia and has lived in Riga (Latvia) since 1984. She was a Soviet national until 1991 and now has no nationality.
10.  In 1982 the applicant, who was living in Russia at the time, married a Soviet civil servant employed by the USSR Ministry of the Interior. In 1984 the couple had a daughter, born in Russia. In the same year the applicant and her family settled in Latvian territory.
11.  In 1987 the applicant’s husband was granted the right, in a professional capacity, to rent a room in a “duty residence” in Riga. In July 1988 he exchanged the accommodation he had previously been renting in Kazan (Russia) for the right to rent a State-owned flat in Riga. He and his family moved in straight away.
12.  On 16 March 1990 the applicant cancelled her formal registration of residence (known at the time as пропucкa in Russian and pieraksts or dzīvesvietas reģistrācija in Latvian) in Volzhsk (Russia). On 16 April 1990 the applicant’s husband registered her, without her knowledge or consent, as resident at the family’s new address in Riga. In August 1990 he registered his own residence at that address.
13.  In the meantime, in May 1990, the applicant lodged a complaint with the relevant local authority concerning her residence registration, arguing that her husband had registered her residence unlawfully without informing her. Consequently, on 15 June 1990, her name was removed from the register in question. Her minor daughter, however, continued to be registered at her father’s address until October 1994.
In October 1990 the applicant and her husband divorced.
14.  In August 1991 Latvia regained full independence. In December 1991 the Soviet Union, the State of which the applicant had hitherto been a national, broke up. The applicant therefore became stateless.
15.  By a final judgment of 3 February 1993 the Riga City Vidzeme District Court granted the applicant the right to rent the room obtained by her former husband in a “duty residence” in 1987. Shortly afterwards, still in February 1993, the applicant requested the Interior Ministry’s Nationality and Immigration Department (Iekšlietu ministrijas Pilsonības un imigrācijas departaments – “the Department”) to enter her name in the register of residents (Iedzīvotāju reģistrs) as a permanent resident of Latvia. In her request, however, she gave the address at which her ex-husband had unlawfully registered her, rather than the address in Riga at which she then lived. The Government explained that this had been a case of mistaken interpretation of the law on the register of residents, one which had had far‑reaching consequences, having led to the loss of the applicant’s legal status in Latvia.
16.  The Department granted the applicant’s request. In March 1993 her daughter obtained the same registration as her mother. However, by a decision of 21 July 1993, the Department cancelled the applicant’s registration on the ground that the stamp in her passport was false. The file was immediately forwarded to the Kurzeme district prosecutor who, in a decision of 17 January 1994, decided not to institute criminal proceedings against the applicant. The prosecutor found that the registration stamp was authentic, but had been placed in the passport by the authorities in breach of the relevant regulations. The prosecutor concluded that, although the applicant’s registration of residence was not valid, she could not be charged with forgery or use of forged documents.
17.  On 15 February 1994 the Department removed the applicant’s name from the register of residents and cancelled her personal identification code (personas kods). On 21 September 1994 the same action was taken in respect of the applicant’s minor daughter.
18.  On 30 November 1994 the Civil Division of the Supreme Court allowed a third-party appeal by the Prosecutor General’s Office and quashed the final judgment of 3 February 1993 concerning the applicant’s right to rent the room she was living in. The case was therefore referred back to the Riga City Vidzeme District Court, which, in an order of 29 December 1999, decided “not to examine the case”.
19.  On 9 January 1995 the Department served a deportation order (izbraukšanas rīkojums) on the applicant, ordering her to leave Latvia with her daughter by 15 January 1995. The Department had discovered that, on 1 July 1992, the decisive date laid down by the Aliens and Stateless Persons (Entry and Residence) Act (“the Aliens Act”), the applicant had not had an officially registered permanent residence in Latvia. Under the terms of the first paragraph of the Supreme Council’s decision on the arrangements for entry into force and application of that Act (see paragraph 40 below), she ought therefore to have applied for a residence permit within one month of the date of entry into force, failing which she would be made the subject of a deportation order; the applicant, however, had omitted to do this.
20.  Having lodged an administrative appeal with the head of the Department, without success, the applicant applied to the Riga City Vidzeme District Court seeking to have the order for her deportation set aside and to have her name re-entered in the register of residents.
21.  By a judgment of 26 April 1995 the court of first instance rejected the application. The court found that, since the registration of the applicant’s residence in Riga had never been valid, she did not fall within the scope of the Act on the Status of Former USSR Citizens without Latvian or other Citizenship (“the Non-Citizens Act”); she was therefore illegally resident in Latvia. The applicant lodged an appeal on points of law against this judgment with the Supreme Court. The latter, in a final judgment of 19 May 1995, dismissed the appeal on the same grounds as the lower court.
22.  In March 1997 the applicant made a fresh application for a residence permit to the Department; the application was rejected.
23.  Following the entry into force on 25 September 1998 of amendments to section 1 of the Non-Citizens Act, the applicant requested the head of the Interior Ministry’s Nationality and Migration Directorate (Iekšlietu ministrijas Pilsonības un migrācijas lietu pārvalde – “the Directorate”), which had succeeded the Department, to regularise her stay in accordance with the Non-Citizens Act. When her request was refused, she lodged a fresh application with the Riga City Central District Court. In her memorial she stressed in particular that she had been living in Latvia for sixteen years and that she and her daughter had no other country to move to.
24.  In a judgment of 8 September 1999 the district court rejected the application. It held that the applicant did not satisfy the conditions laid down in section 1(1) of the Non-Citizens Act since, on 1 July 1992, she had not had a valid registration of residence in Latvia. Furthermore, on that date, she had been resident in Latvian territory for only eight years rather than the required ten years. With specific regard to whether the registration of the applicant’s residence in Latvia was null and void, the court referred to the arguments and findings set out in the Supreme Court judgment of 19 May 1995, which had become final.
25.  The applicant appealed against the judgment before the Riga Regional Court. In a judgment of 15 May 2000 following adversarial proceedings, the regional court also found against the applicant, endorsing in substance the reasoning of the court of first instance. The applicant then lodged an appeal on points of law with the Senate of the Supreme Court. In a final order of 10 July 2000 the Senate, in a preparatory sitting (rīcības sēde) held in private, declared the appeal inadmissible for lack of arguable legal grounds.
26.  Meanwhile, on 6 July 2000, the applicant made a third application for regularisation to the Directorate, requesting it to grant her “the right to reside legally in Latvia”. Her application was rejected.
27.  In a letter of 22 September 2000 to the Interior Ministry, the director of the National Human Rights Bureau (Valsts cilvēktiesību birojs) expressed support for the applicant’s cause and requested the Ministry to regularise her stay in Latvia. The letter received no reply.
28.  In August 2001 the head of the Directorate decided to reopen the file concerning the applicant’s daughter, who was then seventeen. He noted in particular that, on 1 July 1992, she had been registered at her father’s address as a “permanently resident non-citizen” of Latvia, and that she therefore fulfilled the requirements of section 1 of the Non-Citizens Act. Accordingly, in October 2001, the Directorate issued the applicant’s daughter with a passport based on the status of “permanently resident non‑citizen”, re-entered her name in the register of residents and gave her a new personal identification code.
29.  By Decree no. 820 of the Cabinet of Ministers of 24 December 2003, the applicant’s daughter became a naturalised Latvian citizen (paragraph 1.105 of the Decree).
30.  On 7 January 2005 the Directorate sent a letter to the applicant which read as follows:
“ ... The Directorate ... has taken note of the final decision of the European Court of Human Rights (First Section) ... on the admissibility of the application in the case of Natella Kaftailova v. Latvia.
The Directorate has explored the options currently available under Latvian legislation which might make it possible to regularise your stay in Latvia; it therefore invites you to take this opportunity to have your legal status in Latvia determined and to obtain a residence permit.
On 9 January 1995 a deportation order was served on you under section 38 of the [Aliens] Act, requesting you to leave Latvian territory by 15 January 1995. The deportation order has not been enforced, nor have any measures been taken with a view to its enforcement. Section 360(4) of the Administrative Procedure Act ... currently in force stipulates that ‘an administrative act may not be enforced if more than three years have elapsed since it became enforceable’... In view of the fact that, under the previously existing rules, enforcement of the deportation order was not stayed, and that you did not comply with it, enforcement is no longer possible.
The Status of Stateless Persons Act, in force prior to 2 March [2004], made no provision for granting stateless person status to persons illegally resident in Latvia. Accordingly, the Directorate did not invite you to submit the papers required to obtain that status.
The Stateless Persons Act which entered into force on 2 March 2004 replaced the Status of Stateless Persons Act... The conditions for the granting of stateless person status laid down by the [new] Act differ from those contained in the [old] Act.
Under Section 2(1) of the Stateless Persons Act, a person may be granted stateless person status ... if no other State has recognised him or her as a national in accordance with its own laws. Under section 3(1) of the Act, persons not covered by the Convention of 28 September 1954 relating to the Status of Stateless Persons cannot be recognised as stateless persons...
In accordance with section 4(1) of the Stateless Persons Act, in order to be recognised as a stateless person, the individual concerned must submit to the Directorate:
(1) a [written] application;
(2) an identity document;
(3) a document issued by a competent body in the foreign State, to be determined by the Directorate, certifying that the person concerned is not a national of that State and is not guaranteed nationality of that State, or a document certifying the impossibility of obtaining such a document.
In view of the fact that you were born in Georgia and are of Georgian ethnic origin and the fact that, prior to your arrival in Latvia, you had been living in Russia..., it is essential ... to ascertain that you are not recognised as a national of the Republic of Georgia or of the Russian Federation or guaranteed the right to nationality of those countries in accordance with their laws. Accordingly, to enable us to take a decision granting you stateless person status, you must provide [us] with a document issued by the competent bodies in the Republic of Georgia and the Russian Federation to the effect that you are not a national of those countries and that you are not guaranteed the right to such nationality, or with a document certifying the impossibility of obtaining such a document.
Under section 6(1) of the Stateless Persons Act, stateless persons must reside in Latvia in accordance with the rules laid down by the Immigration Act, that is to say, on the basis of a residence permit or, at least, a visa.
Having considered the circumstances of your case, we are prepared, once we have determined your legal status and obtained the necessary documentation..., to address an opinion to the Minister of the Interior proposing that you be issued with a permanent residence permit, in accordance with section 24(2) of the Immigration Act...”
31.  The Directorate then listed the documents to be submitted by the applicant to her local department and indicated the usual period of validity of each document. The letter went on as follows:
“Once you have been recognised as a stateless person and been issued with a residence permit..., your personal data will be entered in the register of residents and you will receive a personal identification code.
In the Directorate’s view, this is the only basis on which you can obtain a permanent residence permit, given the circumstances of your case... That being so, the Directorate, in addressing its opinion to the Minister of the Interior, will draw the Minister’s attention to the fact that issuing you with a permanent residence permit would be compatible with the aspects [sic] of a democratic society, while maintaining the fair balance to be struck between the restriction of individual rights and the benefits to society of that restriction. The aim is to ensure that you have the right to conduct your private and family life without hindrance.
The Directorate would draw your attention to the fact that no one can be recognised as a stateless person or obtain a residence permit on a unilateral basis. You must therefore express a personal interest by making an application to that effect. In the view of the Directorate, ... the solution outlined above corresponds to your interests, would remove the threat of deportation in the future and would enable you to exercise your right to private and family life without any great restrictions; moreover, in accordance with the Nationality Act, you could aspire to Latvian citizenship by naturalisation.
In view of the above, we invite you to contact the Directorate and submit the necessary documents to it, so that ... your legal status can be determined and ... the Minister of the Interior can take a decision on the issuing of a permanent residence permit. ...”
At the end of the letter the Directorate gave the telephone numbers of the officials to whom the applicant should address any further queries concerning the regularisation of her status.
32.  By Decree no. 75 of 2 February 2005, the Cabinet of Ministers instructed the Minister of the Interior to issue the applicant with a permanent residence permit “once the documents required to make such an application have been received” (Article 1). At the same time the Minister of Foreign Affairs was instructed to have the Court’s decision of 21 October 2004 on the admissibility of the present application translated into Latvian, and to have the translation published in the Official Gazette (Article 3).
33.  It is clear from the applicant’s explanations that she did not take the steps indicated by the Directorate and that she continues to reside illegally in Latvia.